LARS ULRICH (Drums, Writer, Executive Producer) co-founded Metallica in 1981 and is always at the epicenter of all things pertaining to the band. From songs to staging, Ulrich is a dynamo whose energy never seems to falter.

As a child Ulrich saw his father Torben run a small jazz club in Copenhagen. He was nearly 10 when the sounds of Ritchie Blackmore and Deep Purple knocked his socks off at a live show. When Ulrich was 13, his grandmother bought him his first drum kit.

When the family moved to Newport Beach, California, in the late '70s, Ulrich jammed a bit with fellow teenager James Hetfield. He also enjoyed tape-trading with the likes of Metal Blade Records' Brian Slagel. Some time later, Slagel was looking for bands to record cuts for the label's very first album release. Ulrich landed a slot but had no band to record with. Remembering his less-than-awesome, yet energetic jams with Hetfield, Ulrich called him up and told him about the album. Hetfield listened and thus Metallica was conceived.

Some 80-million album sales later, Metallica has undergone enormous collective and individual changes but Ulrich remains a pillar of the band. He is comfortable saying exactly what he believes and will take the heat for it, as evidenced by his willingness to advocate for Metallica when Napster was a topic of debate.

Music now shares the top spot on Ulrich's priority list alongside his three sons Myles, Layne and Bryce. He also maintains active interests in art and film and has acted in the feature films Hemingway & Gellhorn and Get Him to the Greek.